Sore Necks and Blushing Angels
by padasigh
Summary: Dean has a sore neck and Castiel gets worried. Castiel's worry causes Dean to dwell on his questionable thoughts... Angel!Cas that's slowly losing his Grace. I guess that makes it partially AU.


**A/N: I shouldn't be awake and hyper and desperate to write at 3 in the morning, but I am, so this popped out. It might suck, considering I have no idea what it'll be about until I start it, but whatever. I hope you enjoy my late-night one-shot.**

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Dean yawned, rubbing his eyes as his vision became clearer; the murky sleep finally dissolving after 15 minutes of being awake. Sam snored loudly from his own bed, rolling over and muffling the sound. Dean shifted on the shallow pillow beneath his head, grabbing the scratchy blankets that were draped over his chest and pushing them away. His neck hurt from the position that he slept in the night before, but it happened frequently, so Dean didn't think anything of it as he dressed himself and started making his coffee. The motel had been nicer than the others in the sense of how it provided a coffee maker and a lousy, but useful, package of Folgers that was only big enough for one or two cups of the stuff. That was really the only thing nicer about the run-down motel, but Dean wasn't complaining. He'd slept in worse conditions; that was for sure.

Right as the coffee maker bleeped, an indication that was fortunately quieter than Dean had expected, a breeze hit the side of the hunter's face and it sent a sense of _calm _through Dean that alarmed him, but the feeling wasn't uncommon. It was just _there,_ reminding Dean that he was safe. Although, lately, the calmness was a little arousing and-

"Hello, Dean." Castiel's voice interrupting Dean's inner monologue, which was something he was grateful for. He did _not _want to think about that right now.

"Hey, Cas," Dean replied, his voice scratchy and sleep-filled.

He turned towards the coffee maker again, prepared to pour himself a cup to get his energy up, wincing at the pain that shot through his neck. Castiel must have noticed this movement, for the angel took a step forward, concern dripping from his deep blue eyes.

"'Snothing, Cas. Slept wrong." Dean muttered, raising the cup to his lips and taking a long sip. His reassurance didn't seem to calm Cas, his face still frozen in the same worried expression. Suddenly, he was taking more steps towards Dean.

That was another thing that wasn't helping Dean's questionable train of thought. Castiel had once realized that there were boundaries and that personal space was an important thing to both Dean and Sam, but the boundaries had began to fade within the last couple months, resulting in Castiel knowing no boundaries or the meaning of personal space in any sense, but only with Dean. Dean suspected it was because of their 'profound bond', but it still made him a little... uncomfortable in an area he didn't want to be uncomfortable in when he had nothing to do about it.

Realizing that he had been quiet and the tension was now palpable in the room, Dean cleared his throat.

"Don't look so worried, it'll go away in a few hours."

"I can fix it now, if you want."

"You said that your angel mojo was growing weaker; don't use that shit up on my stupid sleep pain."

"It's weaker, but it's not dissolved. I still fly, I can time travel up to 5 years. I can't fix it by looking at it or touching your forehead, but I can still fix it."

"How?"

"With my hands."

Dean gulped, willing himself not to think of _what else_ Cas could do with his hands.

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"I believe the human term is a massage." Castiel replied, the worried look still plastered on his face. Dean would have protested further, but he didn't like how frantic Cas looked, so he nodded reluctantly.

"Alright, I guess you can give me a- oh, wow, you're good at that," Dean said, groaning. Castiel's hands had automatically moved to his neck and upper back, pushing and squeezing in the perfect rhythm. Dean bit his lip to hold in a moan, not wanting to wake Sam up and not wanting to draw attention to his growing... issue.

"Y-you don't have to do this, Cas, it'll be fine in a little while and- oh, that' the spot, it hurts like a bitch," Dean said, flinching slightly.

"I don't like seeing you hurt." Castiel replied. Dean tried to shrug, but the angel's hands were in the way and he didn't want to mess up the rhythm of the massage.

"It doesn't hurt that bad."

"It still hurts. I don't like seeing pain in your expression."

Dean raised his eyebrows at the tone of Castiel's voice. It was softer, but still gravelly. It sounded gentle, which was a quality he never would have given Cas. The angel had been growing more and more human within the past few months, but Dean had never expected him to take on the character trait of 'gentle'. It was kind of sweet.

"Oh, that feels good," Dean moaned, his thoughts once again cut off. Castiel hummed, a hint of pride in his tone, and continued to rub the back of Dean's neck. A few moments later, he pulled his hands away, stepping back slightly but still staying in Dean's personal space. Dean turned to face Cas, expecting a blank stare and receiving a blank stare. But something was off...

"Are you blushing?" Dean blurted out, astonished. Castiel furrowed his eyebrows, but the redness from his cheeks intensified.

"I feel strange." Castiel replied. It wasn't an answer to Dean's question, but Dean was pretty sure that Castiel didn't know what blushing was caused by and what it looked like, so he pried further.

"What do you mean?"

"I feel like I should hide, but I feel like I shouldn't hide and like I should touch you in some form." Castiel replied, squinting slightly. Dean felt his own face heat up at that, but understood what Cas was trying to explain.

"You're embarrassed."

"Okay. How do I solve this?"

"You don't really 'solve' embarrassment, Cas. Just, follow your instincts." Dean said, shrugging. Castiel nodded, and before Dean knew it, the angel wrapped his arms around him and held onto him tightly.

Dean was stunned into silence, by both Castiel's actions and his own immediate reaction - which was to reciprocate the embrace and burrow his face into the angel's shoulder. He shifted through his thoughts, rearranging them and making sense of all of the emotions that he felt in the angel's presence. It all made sense, and he didn't really care for labels of straight or gay in the first place, so Dean simply sighed to nothing in particular and decided to just go with his own instinct, which was telling him to hold Cas tighter.

After a few moments of their silence, Dean pulled back slightly. Castiel seemed more relaxed and looked like he was about to say something, but Dean cut him off by kissing him lightly on the lips. Castiel's eyes widened and his cheeks flushed again, but he didn't say anything and kissed Dean again, almost as if he was testing the water before jumping in. Dean grinned slightly against Castiel's lips before responding to the kiss, making it less awkward for the inexperienced angel and more enjoyable. Just as Dean was about to pull away, a voice penetrated through their silent bliss.

"It sure as hell took you long enough."

Castiel pulled away as soon as Dean did, but didn't seem phased by Sam's presence.

"Hello, Sam." Castiel said, breaking away from their position. Dean felt a surge of protectiveness shoot through him and, as promised to himself, went with his instinct by stepping closer to Cas and wrapping one of his arms around the angel's waist. Sam raised his eyebrows, but a smirk was still planted on his face, so Dean didn't comment.

"Hey, Sammy. There's a cup left of coffee in the coffee maker." Dean said nodding his head towards the machine.

"How long?" Sam asked, ignoring his remark.

"About 30 minutes." Dean replied, shrugging. Sam grinned and opened his mouth to speak, but Castiel cut him off.

"Thank you for your advice, Sam."

"Wait, what advice?" Dean asked, his gaze switching between his brother and his angel.

"I just told him that he should touch you." Sam said, chuckling at Dean's immediate blush.

"Yeah, well, whatever."

"Should I touch more people?" Castiel wondered aloud. Dean tightened his grip on the angel's shoulder and shook his head roughly.

"Only me." Dean replied. Sam shook his head, bemused.

"You can't kiss them and you can't hug them and you can't do intimate actions with them, but do whatever you feel is right." Sam corrected. Dean rolled his eyes. Castiel seemed to be considering this for a few seconds before reaching out his hand to pat Sam's shoulder.

"Thank you."

"No, thank _you_ for relieving me of Dean's sex dreams about you that I wake up to _every morning_."

"Shut up, Sammy."

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**This was mainly caused by my own sore neck. I hope you enjoyed. Reviews, favorites and follows are greatly appreciated. **


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